The Ricketts Conservation Foundation and American Forests in association with Yellowstone National Park hosted an event on September 28, 2023, at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. The event publicized conservation work for whitebark pine and highlighted its seed disperser Clark’s nutcracker. This was the unveiling of a video on Clark’s nutcracker to go in the Visitor’s Center in Yellowstone National Park.  It includes footage of nutcracker fieldwork by Dr. Diana Tomback and her students, including capture efforts. 

Dr. Tomback was part of a panel of leading experts who discussed what is needed to restore whitebark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and across its range.  Cam Sholly, Superintendent of Yellowstone, also spoak at this event.

Through the work of Dr. Tomback and her students, CU Denver is highly involved in conservation for this widely distributed, ecologically important forest tree, which is found in many iconic national forests and parks in the west, including Yosemite, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Glacier, and more. The tree, although in remote high elevation habitat, is declining rapidly from anthropogenic threats.  It is a poster child for the ubiquitous nature of human -caused threats. Dr. Tomback and her students also work on another tree that could be listed as endangered in the future, limber pine.  

Clark's nutcracker photo credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology